As 2023 comes to a close, I wanted to reflect back on a big year in my family, which, as hard as it is to believe, was 30 years ago. Several important events happened in 1993, coincidentally in groups of two. Two births, two marriages, and two deaths – plus a big vacation.
We start off with the death of my great-grandmother Gladys (Childress) Hays (1914-1993). She had lived with my paternal grandparents for several years following the death of of her husband, my great-grandfather, Lester George Hays (1907-1985). She suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, which ultimately led to her death on April 26. I don’t have a lot of distinct memories of her or her personality, but I do remember her being around when we would visit my grandparents and have family holiday or birthday gatherings at their house. Her birthday was in December, so we would sometimes combine hers and my aunt’s birthdays with our Christmas celebration. One particular memory I have is of her reading books to my brother, cousins and I, all sitting on a couch or around a chair. I’m not sure of the severity of her Alzheimer’s at the time, but I’m grateful she still made time for her great-grandchildren. I remember attending her memorial service at our church, and a few years ago, I discovered in my grandparents’ things, the cassette tape recording of the service, along with a typed copy of the eulogy given by the pastor, so those are great things to have.
Next up, on May 22, was the wedding of the daughter of longtime family friends. She’s about 11 years older than me and is like my big sister. I was a month shy of 9 years old at the wedding, and my brother and I were ring bearers. It was the first wedding I remember attending, although it was the second time I served as a ring bearer. (I was the ring bearer for my aunt and uncle’s wedding in 1986, but I was 2 1/2 and of course I don’t remember it.) This was a big church wedding, and I remember the preparations leading up to the big day. My mom did most of the silk floral arrangements – the bridesmaid’s bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres. I remember going to a formal wear shop in the mall for the tux fitting. The color was royal blue, and our vests were a matching paisley. Another friend of their family made all the dresses. My younger female cousin was the flower girl, my grandma played the piano, and my aunt and uncle (my dad’s siblings) sang a duet. My brother and I stood up at the front holding our pillows for what seemed like forever, but we made it through! I also remember the bride gave us a VHS copy of “The Princess Bride” as a gift, which we hadn’t seen before, so that was fun. Then afterwards were the photos, which took a while as well. But the bride made me feel special when she grabbed my hand during a shot of us kids with the her and the groom. The reception was at the bride’s parents’ house, and I remember she tried to get me to dance with her, but it was a little awkward because I didn’t know what I was doing – plus I was quite a bit shorter! It was a fun day all in all, and they are still married to this day and celebrated their 30th anniversary this year.
In July was our first big family vacation, with my mom, dad and brother. We went to Disneyland and Sea World. It was my first time out of Arizona, and my first time on an airplane. Since this was the pre-internet days, probably some months prior, we went to a travel agent’s office to book the trip. I remember sitting and waiting a long time while my parents met with the agent. We had a sing-a-long VHS tape called “Disneyland Fun” that my brother and I would watch over and over, trying to get a taste of what Disneyland would be like. The time finally came for the trip, and we flew from Tucson to Los Angeles, and took a shuttle to the Disneyland Hotel. We had a character breakfast one of the mornings. Our first ride was the Matterhorn, which is my favorite ride at Disneyland, probably for the nostalgia of it. Any of the subsequent times we’ve been back, whenever we get close to it, the sounds of the wind and the announcer bring me right back the excitement of riding for the first time. We spent probably a couple days in the park, riding as many of the rides as we could, and we even attended a special Aladdin lunch show. One of the nights we attended an outdoor water/light show at the hotel, and my uncle who lived nearby came over to hang out with us. We then took a bus down to San Diego to go to Sea World for the day, where the most memorable thing was seeing the Shamu show and walking through the aquariums seeing the fish, sharks, and penguins all around.
October 20 brought the birth of my youngest cousins, boy-girl twins, born to my dad’s brother and his wife. (The same aunt and uncle who had me as their ring bearer at 2 1/2 years old) I remember being in the hospital waiting room for a while, while the adults visited the new babies in the room. Kids were not allowed down into the room, but one of the adults, maybe my mom, dad, or aunt, snuck my brother and I down the hall to the door, where they brought the twins out to show us for a quick moment. A funny thing is that the boy looked a lot like me when he was little, more than any of the other cousins, and his sister looked like my brother the most. The boy got married this past year, in April. (His sister had an impromptu wedding a few years before).
Exactly one month after the birth of the twins, her last great-grandchildren, my great-grandmother Josephine (Harper) Musler (1910-1993) passed away from heart disease, on November 20. I remember there being a hope that she would make it long enough to meet them, as there must have been an indication she didn’t have a long time to live. Some of my memories of her include playing games with her and my grandma, Christmas gatherings with the whole family, and eating her baked stuffing/dressing at Thanksgiving. She also had macular degeneration and had trouble seeing in her later years, so she had a large stand-up lighted magnifying glass. She also would listen to books and Bible devotionals on cassette tape. I remember my parents took me (and maybe my brother) to the hospital to see her (I guess she was essentially on her deathbed), and sometime shortly thereafter, I don’t know if it was that night or not, they dropped off my brother and I at our family friends’ house, and they went back to the hospital. When they came back to get us, they told us she had died. I also remember attending her viewing at the funeral home and memorial service at the church. She was the first deceased person I had ever seen in a casket. I remember when the viewing was ending, my grandma (her daughter) leaned in and unclasped the necklace they had on her so she could keep it, and then gave her a kiss. I also have a cassette recording of her memorial service.
Last but not least, was the my paternal grandfather Everett Thurston’s (1931-2022) wedding to his third wife Donna (Gale) Plummer (1938-2022) on November 26. It was the day after Thanksgiving at a local church my grandfather chose. He had been the construction supervisor when the church was being built some years before, and he liked the way the light came in from the skylight above the pulpit and shined on the the Bible on it’s stand. He also liked the stained glass windows. It was a small wedding, attended only by close family, and a few friends of theirs. My brother, cousins and I were the only kids. It was probably a short ceremony – there wasn’t any special music. I don’t even remember what music was played. The reception was at the home of a friend of theirs, and older lady. I remember us kids sat out on the back patio with our little plates of finger foods, and everyone just milling around and chatting. There was cake as well. There wasn’t a video shot of the event, but we do have the photo album. They didn’t hire a professional photographer, so few family members took pictures, which came out pretty good. It as a fairly low-key event, likely being that it was the third marriage for both of them, and they were older.
Well that’s my summary of the major events of 1993 – more happy than sad, thankfully. Lots of memories of genealogical significance for sure!
BONUS! 1993 was also a big year in movies that I remember enjoying, and some even have an impact to this day. Here’s a list of several that stand out to me from that year: Hocus Pocus (one of my faves!) Jurassic Park, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Homeward Bound, The Sandlot, Super Mario Bros, Cool Runnings, and Mrs. Doubtfire.
My Family Finds 